Tough
by thelivingtunic
Summary: What happens when a rough, tough girl moves in near the sandlot? Who falls for her? What's wrong in her life? Is she really as rough and tough as she leads everyone to believe? R&R to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Yo. I'm back, and this time with a story for the sandlot. Hey, I'd like to say that if your wondering if its gonna be one of those stories where my character ends up with Benny, well I honestly don't know yet, because in the next chapter, there's a bit of fluff with another one of the guys, so it could go one of two ways.

Disclaimer: I don't own the sandlot, the characters except for my character and her father, or anything else.

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It was the beginning of the summer. A new family was moving in, near the Sandlot. Benny, Smalls, and the rest never really noticed, not until the day the moving trucks were gone. Then they saw a girl sitting on the steps, with a baseball bat, a glove, and a bucketfull of baseballs. She was reading a book. She looked up, spotting the guys. She raised her eyebrows curiously, took up a baseball, and threw it at Bertram. He caught it, and she grinned. She slowly put her book down, and stood up.

" Yo, throw it back, bud" she said, and Bertram threw it back to her. She caught it. " Thanks" she said, shaking out her long, pale blonde hair. It was the palest blonde hair they'd ever seen, and would see. She was wearing a T-shirt, and torn jeans. She grabbed her bat.

" You guys going somewhere?" she asked.

" To the sandlot" they all answered. She nodded slowly.

" Sweet. Hey, I know we just met and all, and you guys probably wouldn't wanna get to know me anyways, but do ya think I could go with ya?" she asked. The guys looked between each other curiously.

" Well... OK, but only if you know how to play baseball" Ham said.

" Don't ya think that's pretty much a given?" the girl said, pointing to her baseball equipment right around her. She grabbed her bucket of baseballs, her bat and her glove, and jumped down the porch steps.

" Anyways, I'm Terra. I'm gonna let you know right now, I'm bad. You bite me, I'll bite back. You hit me, I'll hit back. You swear at me, I'll swear right back with every swear word I know, and I know lots. You yell at me, I'll hit you with a bat. You bug me when I'm pissed, I'll hit you with a bat. Got that?" she asked. The guys nodded, more than just a little afraid.

" Yo, no need to be scared. I just wanna be friends. I'm just lettin ya know beforehand what I'm like" Terra said, and grinned. The guys just nodded again, still afraid. " We gonna go or what? I ain't stickin around here all day" Terra said. She marched off in the direction of the sandlot, and the guys looked at each other, sharing a thought for once.

_'Is she for real? Can girls actually be like her?'_ they all thought. Terra turned, placing her hands on her hips.

" Well? C'mon, fartknockers!" she exclaimed. The guys started running, Terra beginning to run with them. " This is more like it!" Terra shouted. They reached the sandlot.

" This is where you guys play ball? Sweet!" Terra exclaimed. They started a game, and it turned out Terra played good. Real good. Nearly as good as Benny, in everyone's opinion.

It was getting late, and as everyone started packing up, Terra took a baseball, tossed it in the air, and hit it across the sandlot. She ran, got it, and ran it back.

" Hey, Terra, it's late. We know you love baseball and all, but come on. Its time to go home" Benny called. Terra's face drooped a little, but she faked a grin and dropped her ball in her bucket, grabbed her stuff, and started walking home with them.

" yo, guys. Um, thanks for lettin me play today. I haven't played since I was on my school's team a long time ago" Terra said.

" Why haven't you played since then?" Smalls asked.

" Well, no one would play with me. I sorta had a bad reputation" Terra explained. The guys nodded.

" Well, your the biggest badass I ever met" Bertram told her.

" Aw, don't. You might make me blush" Terra said, laughing. Terra stepped onto her step, and grinned at the guys. She turned to go inside, but she paused, turned again, whistled loudly and got the guys' attention. When they turned, she waved like crazy, until the were out of sight. She sighed, and opened the door, which wasn't locked. She quietly grabbed her baseball stuff, and ran straight to her room.

When it was all away, she was about to go into the kitchen, but stopped when she heard voices and could smell the alcohol. There was laughter, and Terra tore straight out of the house, pausing only to grab a pillow, a blanket, her baseball stuff, a change of clothes, and her father's credit card. She ran straight to the sandlot, and into the dug-out. She set her stuff down, tears flowing freely down her face. She sniffled, then got up and dried her eyes. She went wandering all over town, and found a fast food restuarant that was open late into the night. Using her father's credit card, she bought herself a burger and a milkshake. She headed back to the sandlot. She ate the burger as fast as she could, then slurped down the milkshake. She started to cry again, and she snatched at her blanket. It wasn't cold, but she was shaking.

She had always known to run away from home when her father had been drinking, ever since the first time he had beat her after her mother had died. He had blamed her for her mother dying, and when she had run away, he didn't look for her and he didn't care. In fact, he didn't care about her when he was sober. She had gotten kicked off her old school's baseball team when she had fought with another kid, who had hit her first. The teachers had always tried to tell her "violence never solves anything", but for her problems, it always had. She had been known as the roughest, toughest kid in her old school, and she was determined to get that status again here.

Even if it meant sleeping in the sandlot, and being beat by her father the next time she went home, and when he found out she had his credit card. She didn't care, she had been through it all before.

_'Too many times, too many times'_ she thought. She was determined not to let anyone, not even the sandlot boys, see the real her: the scared girl who wanted to be safe for once, who didn't want to have to fight for her life sometimes.

She laid her head down on her pillow, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Terra was awoken by voices around her.

" Whoa, Terra's sleepin here! Why isn't she at home?" one boy asked. _'Shit'_ was Terra's first thought, and she jumped up. She rubbed at her eyes, the blurriness going away fast. She looked around quickly, and saw that it was just the sandlot boys. The guys she met yesterday.

" Yo, guys. What's up?" Terra asked casually. They eyed her oddly.

" You were sleeping in the dug-out.." Squints started, trailing off.

" So? You wanna make somethin of it, Squinty?" Terra snapped cruelly.

" You can't talk to him like that" Ham piped up. Terra glared at him, then cracked her knuckles.

" Yo, Fatty, shut up. Don't make me beat ya so hard you don't know up from down" Terra said. Everyone else backed away a bit, since Terra was running her mouth the way a grizzly bear attacked an unarmed human.

" Hey, Terra, what's up?" Bertram asked, trying to change the subject quickly. Terra sighed, and ran her fingers through her dirty, tangled hair.

" Look, guys, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to snap at cha that way, but I'm tired. Had a bad night, ya know. Look, I'd really love it if you guys could forgive me for that, because I'd really like to be friends with ya. I never really had friends before, you know, so I'm not exactly sure how to treat friends. But, but I'll try to be more nice and not so rough to ya any more if you'll all just forgive me, right now. And, and if you guys do forgive me, we could start a game of baseball. Whatta ya say?" Terra asked hopefully, sounding genuinely sorry. The guys huddled up, not too far away, every once and a while looking over their shoulders at Terra, who was staring at her feet. She was deep in thought.

_'Why did I have to do that? I actually like these guys as friends. Except Ham. Hell, I don't even like to eat the meat ham. Ok, OK, focus. I screwed up again. I suppose if I wasn't up in everyone's face I could make friends, but I gotta be rough and tough to put with Pa. Man, if only my life could be easy for once, and I'm gonna need a decent place to shower tonight. I ain't goin home, not for a while, cause if I say out long 'nough, Pa'll be glad 'nough not ta beat me. That'll be the best thin-' _Terra thought, when her thoughts were interrupted.

" Terra? Yeah, we'll forgive you. But, please, could you try to be a little more friendly?" Benny asked. Terra nodded vigorously, enuthuiastic that she was getting a second chance. She grinned, and reluctantly the guys did too. They started up a game of baseball, and soon forgot about how Terra acted that morning.

At noon, when they were all in the dug-out for a break, Terra was quiet.

" Hey, Terra?" Squints asked. Terra looked up in response.

" You'd tell us if there was something wrong, right? Like, maybe at home?" Benny asked. Terra looked at him for a second, then looked away.

" ..Nothing's wrong at home, Benny. Everything is fine. Everything is..." Terra faltered. All the guys looked at her. Tears hit the dirt, and the guys all jumped back.

" Whoa, I'm sorry, Terra. Really sorry. I didn't know your home life was so sensitive, I just wanted to know why you spent all night at the sandlot.." Benny said. Terra remained looking at the dirt.

" ... I'm not as tough as I said I as. In fact, I'm a really sensitive person. I just don't like letting people in, because of my life at home. I've been running away from home ever since my mom died, when I was 8. My dad's been drunk a lot, and when he's drunk, he'll... he'll beat me. He beats me when he's sober too, but that's when I go home after running away. He thinks... he thinks its my fault my mom died. I didn't understand why he'd hurt me, and because he did, I thought everyone else was going to hurt me, too. He gave me the impression that I was always doing something wrong, that I... I was a freak. I learned to play baseball at school, but I was kicked off the team because I got in a fight with someone who tried to hit me..." Terra said, trailing off. " Everything is wrong at home, Benny. Everything!" she exclaimed, and burst out fully crying. Everyone looked stunned. Terra grabbed her blanket, and wrapped it around herself. She dried her eyes after a few minutes, put her blanket down, and took a deep breath.

" I am going to be a big girl" Terra muttered to herself. "No matter what."

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R & R please! Honestly, I really don't know who Terra will like or be with, so we'll all have to see!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the Sandlot. Just Terra.  
Anyway, I've recently re-read this after forgetting about it, and I have decided that for the readers that like this so very much, I will update. I thank you all who read this. Thank you very much. Now, enjoy!!

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Bertram had heard what Terra had muttered.

" Look, Terra, no one should have to go through that. It doesn't make you a baby for crying. Hell, if anyone of us were in that situation, we'd probably cry too. You should have told us" Bertram said.

" B-but I just met you" she stammered. Bertram smiled a sad smile.

" But you wouldn't trade us for the world, would you?" he asked.

" NO!! Not even Ham!" Terra exclaimed.

" That's good" Bertram said. " I know this hurts, but do you have any... you know, bruises?" he asked. Terra nodded, tears coming to her eyes.

" The last time was recently. Right before we moved here.." she said.

" I'm really sorry" he said. Terra shook her head.

" Don't be, it isn't your fault, and you found out as fast as possible" she said, trying to smile. Bertram, Benny, Squints, everyone else crowded around. Terra wanted to pull away.

" Look, we know how you probably feel about being surrounded by people, but you know we're not going to hurt you, Terra" Bertram said. She nodded, and smiled a real smile. " You know that, Terra. You know that none of us would ever do anything to hurt you. We only want to help you now, and we want to be there for you. Because you need people who will be there for you now" Bertram said. Terra smiled, and nodded.

" Thank you Bertram. Thanks a lot. I needed that" Terra said.

" Then I'm glad that I could help you" he said, smiling.

" Guys, I don't mean to ruin a sappy moment, but maybe we could play ball again?" Ham asked. Terra nodded, pushed her way out of the circle, and they started playing again.

Later, at the end of the day, everyone was packing up their stuff. Terra already had her stuff assembled, and was waiting nervously to see where she would be going tonight. She certainly hoped that, although the guys had promised, she wouldn't have to go home to her father. She grabbed her stuff when everyone was ready to leave, and they all walked slowly. They were passing in front of Terra's house, keeping Terra on the other side of them away from the house, when her father appeared at the large, living room window, and he looked furious. Terra was aware he could see her. She wanted more than anything to run away. She stopped, her father made a beckoning motion. She gave them her baseball stuff.

" Hold onto this for me, guys. No matter what. Bring it to the sandlot tomorrow" Terra said, as she marched into the house. The guys hurried on home.

The next day, the guys were waiting for only Terra, and they were sick to their stomachs with worry.

" Oh please let her be okay" Bertram said, and everyone else started saying it too. Then someone walked up to the sandlot, and all the guys could see who it was. " Terra!" they all shouted at the same time, but they didn't run to see her. She walked up to them, with a large purple bruise in the shape of a hand on her cheek. Her arms were black, brown and purple with splotchy bruises. She looked like she was about to cry, and on her forehead was a bandage. Her hair was clean and unmatted today, and she looked all-around cleaner. She began to cry when she reached the guys, and she sat on the ground. The guys bent down around her.

" He was so pissed last night, and so drunk!" Terra exclaimed through her tears. " And I'm losing all my nerve. I'm not going to have anything left!" she added. The guys looked upset.

" I don't know what to do anymore" Terra sobbed. The guys all exchanged looks.

" I don't know what you could do, but I know what you can't do again" Bertram said. Terra looked up at him.

" What? What can't I do?" she asked.

" You can't go home anymore" Bertram answered. Terra shook her head.

" I never want to go home, but where will I go?" she asked.

" I don't know" Bertram said.

" But you can't go home. We're not going to let you" Benny said. Terra nodded. She stood up, dried her eyes, and they started a game of baseball.

Well, everything was going good, until Eric Phillips and his team showed up. Everyone dropped everything they were doing.

" Phillips" Benny growled. Terra scowled.

" Who's the canary?" Phillips asked, and he laughed.

" I ain't no canary, and I wouldn't say it again unless you want me to bash your head in with a baseball bat" Terra snapped, causing the other team to take one step back. She let a low growl escape her lips.

" Nevermind, got a coyote mixed up with a canary. Man, that blonde can really fool a guy" Phillips said. " Oh, would you look at that. The coyote must really be a wimp to have someone paint her all those colors" Phillips added. Terra glared at him.

Suddenly, Phillips backhanded Terra across the face, on the cheek with the bruise. She dropped to the ground.

_'That felt like the way my dad hits me'_ she thought numbly, completely collapsing face down in the dirt. All the guys were shocked, while Phillips was laughing, saying how she wasn't tough at all. Bertram and Benny stepped forward, and without thinking, both punched Phillips in the eyes. The other guys from Phillips' team pretty much jumped on them, beating them up. Terra was on her elbows and knees, when she grabbed the baseball bat. She immediately stood up, and without hesitation, she smashed three of the guys pounding on Bertram on the back of the heads. Of course she hit them hard, so they skittered away, afraid of being cracked on the head like that again. Terra turned and brained a couple of the guys beating up on Benny, and got the same reaction as from the first group. Bertram and Benny stood up, and Terra kept a firm grip on her bat. She began to laugh when Phillips and his team ran away.

" I told you you were the biggest badass I knew" Bertram said. " Because it would take a serious badass to do something like what you just did" he added. Terra grinned, and blushed. She high-fived him, and Benny, and everyone else. They continued their game, until it got late. Bertram helped Terra get all her baseballs, which were scattered around the sandlot.

" You didn't have to do that, Bertram" Terra said, grinning.

" Nah, I just wanted to" he replied, also grinning.

" Thanks anyway. So, since I don't actually have permission to stay anywhere, I guess I'll be staying here again" Terra said.

" I feel horrible leaving you here..." Bertram said.

" Oh cut the crap, Bertram" Benny said. Bertram scowled at him. Benny scowled back.

" I'll be OK, Bertram, Benny, everyone else. You should get going now though" Terra said. They all reculantly nodded, and went home. Terra sighed, and headed into the dug-out.


End file.
